


Who Knows How Many Hours?

by nutellabythespoon



Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: also swearing but noe more than in the actual show?, it's literally almost all the characters sitting a circle talking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-23
Updated: 2014-09-30
Packaged: 2018-02-18 13:55:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2350799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nutellabythespoon/pseuds/nutellabythespoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>all the peeps are forced by the vice principal to sit in a circle and talk things out~~~~~you can see where this goes~~~~~<br/>(spoiler alert everyone hates each other so not well)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. ONE

**Author's Note:**

> I'll continue the chapters when we get more info on the characters, so that it can stay cannon. I just really wanted to explore all the characters and their issues and how they could even possibly talk things out

"NO. No. Nope. I have a right as a free citizen of this country to refuse. You CANNOT make me." Beatrice stood outside the vice-principal's office, stiff and firm. She had been standing three minutes strong. She wasn't going in there, and she was not being forced to go in there. They simply couldn't do that. 

"Young lady, you are required. Please step inside or we will have to have a look through your marks from last term and see if any of them hadn't taken into account your unco-operative nature."

Or, she realized, they could. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Everyone sat in a circle, like it was summer camp or something. They had been sitting there, in complete silence, for what was quite possibly the three most awkward minutes of Ben's life. What was taking Beatrice so long anyway? 

"I've fucking had it. If she's not coming in, there's no reason I can be kept here. I'm done." Pedro got up and headed toward the door. Ben was reminded of Pedro's signature when he uploaded a video onto someone else's channel. "PEDRO OUT." He almost wanted to make a joke, but figured it was probably the worst group of people in the worst time and place for humour. Especially humour that had to do with Youtube channels and friendships and happiness. God, they were one big mess. So, instead, he just said we needed to be said. 

"Fuck, man. Can you not? She'll come in soon." He wanted to keep talking, talking about how leaving was not helpful at all, and about everyone needed to just calm down, but the Vice Principal had just walked in with Beatrice. He gave Ben a "look" for his "language" (as if he wasn't going to be hearing a ton of that for the next who-knows-how-many hours) and instructed Pedro to sit down. Then he made an angry face, and with a very loud commander-in-chief voice, said what they all knew was coming. 

"I don't know what game you kids think you're playing, or why you think it's OK to be tarnishing the reputation of this school, but all I know is that no one, I repeat, no one," he looked right at Beatrice, who slinked into her chair, "is leaving this room until your stupid, child-like shenanigans are sorted, and there's no chance that any of your horrible videos will put this school and it's student body in such a bad light ever again." With that, he got up, did the two fingers to eyes and then to crowd motion, and opened the door. 

"W-wait, sir, you're not staying?" Verges sat on the other side of the room, looking very concerned.

"Do I look interested in your foolish matters? It is not under my job description to be a counsellor. Goodbye." Uh-oh. Ben had thought that there would be an adult in the room. The second the door closed, the awkward silence from before disappeared. Half the group turned their chairs to face the wall, and the other half started yelling. 

Fuck. This was going to be a long evening. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hero wasn't sure how to feel. On one hand, she felt obliged to hate everyone, to hate everything, to be spewing hatred and anger. On the other hand, though, she didn't feel obliged to feel anything at all. That's not to say she wasn't even a little angry. But, maybe all her emotions had been so intense, that there was nothing left but this confused emptiness. That, she decided, was how she felt. Empty. 

She surveyed the room. People were yelling. Bea was yelling. Pedro was yelling. John was yelling. Claudio was yelling. Heck, even Ursula was yelling. They were yelling about her. She couldn't believe the Vice-Principal had made them all sit there. He thought they were going to work things out? She can't believe he made her sit there, with all those people in one room, knowing that it would not be healthy for her. She was getting really anxious. She needed to get out. 

Cora was the only one who noticed her anxious state. "SHUT UP!" Much to everyone's surprise, the room went silent. 

"Listen. We're not getting out until were best friends, and there is no way of faking it without erupting until yelling after 20 seconds. We all hate that we're here, but look at Hero. It's not healthy for her to be in here." Everyone turned to look at her, and Hero felt extremely uncomfortable. She needed to get out. "So, I don't give a fuck if you care or not, we have to work things out as soon as possible. And also, I know this may be difficult considering 90% of the bodies in this godforsaken room are made out of half carbon half asshole, but can we try maybe not yelling?" 

"I have an idea. Everyone take off two pieces of clothing-" Ursula had gotten cut off by puzzled stares. "I mean, like shoes or hair elastics or something, obviously. And throw them in the middle." Everyone was reluctant, but Cora's words in their minds, they kicked off their shoes to the middle- some with more sour faces than others. "One represents your asshole-ness, and the other your defensiveness. They're gone. They've left. Say goodbye." 

It was definitely quieter, but Hero didn’t like everyone's reluctant nature. Ursula's "idea" seemed trivial, and she knew there was no way it was going to work. She decided, against all of her thoughts and anxiety, to speak. 

"So, um…how're we gonna do this?"


	2. You guys had some issues you probably should have worked out before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pedro and Cora narrate. instead of italics I'm using /---/ because it's not working. 1) please tell me how to make italics work 2) please tell me if the slashes are annoying because I'll take them out. (they are slightly annoying me)

Pedro thought that he was kind of maybe in the worst situation here. Well, not the worst situation, but probably the most hated person in the room. /Not probably/, he realized, /definitely/. He was angry at himself for being so quick to leave before. /Great fucking job, mate. Now it seems like you couldn't care less about any of them/. He drew a long breath, and the heads turned to him.   
No right to speak.   
No right to speak.   
He could see it in their eyes. 

He wanted to answer Hero's question. He wanted an answer to Hero's question. He dragged his hands across his hair in slow motion, forming the words in his brain. He had apologized to everyone, of course, and it hadn't done much, and it would seem useless to lead with an apology now, but then again, if he didn't- 

He stopped his train of thought, hoping that maybe the right words would just come out. He could just ramble on about needing to say everything out loud, and how that was the only way, and people were going to have to listen. He worked up his courage and opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He stared blankly like an idiot four a good five seconds (which is much longer than you'd think, in situations such as these) until finally, "fuck." That was all. 

"Hmm, really Pedro? That's wonderful, truly. Were a bit past that now, thank you, a bit past 'hmm this isn't very good, is it?' We were past that months ago but it seems that SOME FUCKING PEOPLE DON'T CARE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLES SHITTY SITUTATIONS UNTIL THEY'RE IN ONE AS WELL." He wanted to respond, but looked down away from everyone. He noticed his missing shoes, and remembered the whole thing from the minute before. Good god, he was lucky he didn’t respond. He would have been fucking up the whole "defensiveness shoe thing." 

Hero muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "not helping," presumably to both parties involved. 

"Hah. Wow. You guys had some serious issues you /probably/ should have worked out, you know, before." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
I mean, in retrospect, it wasn't Cora's smartest line, but come one, it's the truth. 

"I mean like, obviously that wasn't nice. Or helpful. Sorry." Stares. A mixture of anger and understanding. No one could say anything better, if they had their go. 

"I just mean, well, actually, ya. It wasn't nice at all. It wasn't meant to be. Imagine." She made a jazz hands motion, urging everyone to envision a scene. "Here we've got these year 13s, the cool, popular year 13s. They're pretty much the coolest kids in school." She made a sour face. Maybe she had some issues she probably should have worked out as well. "The star players of the football team, the cutest couple, not to mention they're perfect and internet famous and document their fucking life and their cool kid parties as if they're interesting enough to watch sitting around laughing and eating." 

Ursula had some sort of reaction to this, though Cora couldn't tell if it was anger, or an eye-roll type, or the defensiveness that she had made herself shed. She continued. 

"And then here they are, cramped in the vice principal's office, crowded and yelling and crying."

Meg had been silent up until then, but that was enough. "You sound an awful lot like John in his…" she skipped the end of the sentence. "What is your point, exactly?" But before Cora could answer (though it's not like she really had one) it seemed that more people were finding the words to speak. People, specifically, John. 

"See, exactly. She gets it." He pointed at Cora as if it was proof, justification. He made such an angry, hateful face. She can't believe they used to bond over things like she had just said.

"NO. No. Not at all. Never, John. Ya, I was pretty angry and maybe even though I don't want to be here and I try to fight it, there is still a little part of my brain that is oh so amused and satisfied that situation exists in the first place. But, no. It's no reason for anything. Not at all. But I meant what I said. You guys had some serious issues you probably should have worked out before, but now is all we've got. Pedro, what were you going to say?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was up again. Wonderful. /Spit it out, like you were about to before/. 

"Well, first off…that was probably better said than not…that's what we need to do, you guys were right. Say it all. All of it." He thought he spotted Ben nod, just the tiniest nod, and he hoped he was going in the right direction. "I'm pretty fucking confused. Not, exactly at what's going on, or whatever, but just, I, I feel like everyone hates me the most, and it's not that I don't know what I did wrong, because believe me, I do, but I just don't know how to make it up, and I can't understand why it's /all/ my fault. I just, didn't realize, when I did little things that, you," he turned right to John and pointed an accusatory finger, "that they made you /hate/ me that much, I never really, I can't, why? What exactly was so horrible. I tried to be a good brother. When you came to me with these accusations, I didn't shrug them off, I tried to take you seriously. I was trying to get better."

"You're completely delusional, you know that?" John may as well been blocking his ears. 

"And then there's you two." He swung around, facing the other side of the room. He didn't point, exactly, but there was surprising anger in his voice that confused Ben. "You two absolutely fucking /hate/ each other. Absolutely-" he was cut off, fucking cutting by fucking Balthazar of all people.

"It's a hard life being friends with two loud mouth hot-heads." The words dripped like venom from Balthazar's mouth, a cruel impersonation of Pedro from months before. It implied everything that was really wrong with what was going on in Pedro's head. He didn't have to articulate it, everyone got the message. Nontheless, this was all about talking, wasn't it? 

 

"If you've got something to say, Balthazar, you should, you know, say it." Pedro braced himself. This was it. He was done for. There was no hope for quick reconciliation now. Not with anyone.


End file.
